CALGARY - Last year’s devastating flood in Calgary was like a brutal punch to the gut for restaurant owner Brendan Bankowski.

For eight days, his Taste Restaurant in the Beltline was out of business as the inner-city dealt with the impact of a powerful river system that had blown over its banks. Taste was one of about 4,000 businesses that felt the massive power of Mother Nature at its worst.

Eight days of lost revenue and about $10,000 of lost food inventory. Tough for a small 26-seat establishment.

“It was a pretty serious gut punch for us,” said Bankowski on Thursday during a Business Recovery Task Force Commemoration at the Calgary Zoo which looked at the success stories of the community getting back onto its feet after being knocked down by flooding.

But once back in action, the three-month stretch after the flood was the busiest the restaurant has ever experienced.

“It was truly amazing,” said Bankowski.

Only one per cent of the flood-affected businesses in Calgary failed to re-open.

The Calgary Emergency Management Agency has created a Business Continuity Handbook as a result of last year’s devastating flood. The handbook was created by CEMA with input from the Calgary Chamber and Calgary Economic Development. It will serve as a guide that any business can use to prepare for an emergency, and contains best practices that can be utilized during a disaster event, according to the Chamber.

On Thursday, Ken Uzeloc, interim director of CEMA, announced the creation of the Emergency Business Contact Database, which will help facilitate communication and collaboration between CEMA and the business community during emergencies, such as natural disasters, that could impact business operations. In the event of a natural disaster or other emergency situation, when it is important to get timely information regarding business continuity out to the business community, the EBCD will be utilized to share relevant emergency business information.

Fifteen different organizations came together immediately following the flood to form the Business Recovery Task Force.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said the flood was one of the greatest challenges the city has ever faced with a lot of despair, a lot of damage and a lot of pain.

But it also led to a celebration of the spirit of the community and how it came together following the devastation.

Nenshi said it is very, very common for one-third of businesses affected by any disaster to never re-open but that wasn’t the experience of Calgary.

Adam Legge, president and chief executive of the Chamber, said Thursday event was one of mixed emotions. The sadness of the devastation. The pride and joy of the recovery.

“It was truly an effort of unprecedented levels,” said Legge of the recovery from the flood.

Mary Moran, vice-president of marketing, communications and research for Calgary Economic Development, said it was not uncommon after the flood for people not to be aware of what businesses were open and what to expect in affected areas.

The city raised $1.4 million - an “absolutely astounding” amount - which was able to launch a marketing and awareness campaign letting everyone know that Calgary was open for business.

Lindsey Galloway, director of communications, marketing and sales for the Calgary Zoo, said the popular tourist destination experienced a remarkable success story in how it rebuilt from the disaster.

The zoo lost $5 million in revenue in July alone of that year as it was completely closed for 40 days. In total, it lost $10 million in revenue and suffered $50 million in damage to land and property.

He said one of the big lessons learned from the flood was that “friends matter most when you are being challenged.”

The overall impact of the flood included; 125,000 people evacuated; 5.1 million hours of work lost in southern Alberta; 32 communities affected; 10,000 houses severely damaged; 200 bridges damaged; 30 highways and roads closed; and the costliest Canadian disaster in history at more than $5 billion in damage.

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